World Footy News

The new AFL Middle East season will return to a six team competition with the addition of a new club, the BM Bulls. For the past few seasons the Middle East competition has run with just the five clubs since the Bahrain Blues pulled out prior to the start off the 2012/13 season.

This will mean the Bulls will join existing clubs the Abu Dhabi Falcons, Doha Kangaroos, Dubai Dingoes, Dubai Dragons and Muscat Magpies.

According the Matt Burn, General Manager – Football Operations at AFL Middle East, “[BM Bulls are the] new team introduced to the competition for season 2014/15. The league was approached by Andy Campbell who said they had a full squad who were looking to start their own side in the competition. The league and all five clubs agreed that it would be good to introduce a sixth team to the competition. The Bulls are backed by Brookfield Multiplex [hence the BM] and 95% of the players are all employed by the business. They are the unknown side for 2014/15, so watch this space!”
Brookfield Multiplex is a construction, engineering and infrastructure company with started as Multiplex in Perth, founded by John Roberts in 1962. Today they are involved in massive construction projects world-wide including Australia, New Zealand, England, Scotland and the United Arab Emirates. Some of their best known developments include Wembley Stadium in London, Federation Square in Melbourne and the Emirates Towers in Dubai.

The BM Bulls will also be based in Dubai, making it three teams in the one city. One thing is for certain – there will be an even bigger focus on the Dubai local derby matches from this season.

A welcome addition to the AFL scene in the Middle East, time will tell how quickly the BM Bulls can get into stride and match it with the already established clubs.



Left: BM Bulls playing kit for 2014/15 season